and whose extreme misery they could not but pity, charitably gave them of the maes they had, "- a weakness they reproached themselves for afterward, when they loaded their vessels with stores for the voyage and had room for more. Voyage These boats were finished in June. Most of the horses and all the hogs were killed for provisions, and on the 2d of July, 1543, down the the expedition, reduced now to three hundred and seventytwo persons, embarked for the voyage down the Mississippi. They were seventeen days in reaching the mouth of the river, fighting their way on the water as they had always done on the land, for the Indians grew the more aggressive with the hope that they were seeing the last of the hated white men. Sailing out into the Gulf, pursued to the last moment by the natives, they cruised for fifty days along the coast of Louisiana and Texas, till they reached the Spanish colony of Panuco. Haggard, gaunt, half-naked, having only a scanty covering of skins, looking more like wild beasts than men, they kissed the ground when they landed among their countrymen, and "on bended knees, with hands raised above them, and their eyes to heaven remained untiring in giving thanks to God." But the relation of such hardships as these men endured, fol lowing upon the almost complete extermination that befell the Nar vaez expedition, could not deter their countrymen from further explorations in the same direction. It could not be forgotten that a 1559.] DON TRISTAN DE LUNA. 171 great country, still in the possession of savage heathens, stretched from the Atlantic coast, along which Gomez, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, and Ponce de Leon had sailed, to that Western- or as it was then called, Southern — Ocean, reached by Cabeça de Vaca, and his three companions, after six years' wanderings. De Soto slept quietly, after three years of travel, at the bottom of a river, broad and deep, hundreds of miles from its mouth, and no man could tell how far the land watered by it and its tributaries extended. So vast a field for enterprise, and so full of magnificent promise, notwithstanding the fate of all who had hitherto entered it, could not long remain neglected. Yet in spite of its inviting name, The Land of Flowers continued most inhospitable to all attempts on the part of the Spaniards to gain a foothold there. An expedition, led by some zealous friars, eager for the conversion of the heathen, landed on its shores, and were massacred as soon as they set foot thereon. Twice within the ten years following De Soto's expedition, a fleet of ships, crowded with adventurers, and richly laden with treasure from Mexico, were wrecked on its coast, and those on board who escaped the perils of the sea were slaughtered by the natives, leaving barely enough alive to tell the story of their disaster. Occasionally a solitary survivor of one of these ill-fated enterprises returned to the Spanish settlements in Mexico, or the West Indies, to recount his romantic adventures. Hardly an expedition, after that of Ponce de Leon had first landed at Florida, failed to meet somewhere among the Indians, a white captive of their own race who had belonged to some previous company of explorers, and who, taken captive by the Indians, had been spared to slavery, after his companions were slain. Their story would be no less romantic than that of Cabeça de Vaca, or of Juan Ortiz, if, like them, it had gained a chronicler. Expedition tan de Luna. It was exactly twenty years after the imposing departure of De Soto from San Lucar, that a fleet of still larger size, and no less magnificence than his, was fitted up at Vera Cruz, in Mexico, of Don Trisfor the conquest and settlement of Florida. It was commanded by Don Tristan de Luna, a scion of a noble family in Arragon, whose father was for several years a governor of Yucatan. He sailed from Vera Cruz on the 14th of August, 1559, with an army of 1500 men, besides many friars zealous for the conversion of the Indians, and a number of women and children, the families of the soldiers who were to colonize Florida. They had a prosperous voyage to a good harbor, which they named the Santa Maria.1 Here they anchored the ships, and Don Tristan prepared to send news of his arrival back 1 Hist. of Florida, by G. R. Fairbanks. says this was Pensacola Bay, as the old Spanish maps gave the Bay as the Santa Maria to the viceroy. But the accustomed ill-fortune of Spanish adventurers in these parts attended him. On the sixth day after his arrival, a great storm arose, and all his ships were driven on shore and destroyed. Left on the land with his great army with no means of returning to Mexico, he at once sent out a detachment of soldiers, under his sergeant-major, to explore the country, and seek for the rich provinces of which they had heard, while he remained at the port with the rest of his people. Exploration try. The detachment, after a march of forty days through a country empty of people and barren of provisions, reached an Indian of the coun- town, which, although deserted, contained a quantity of corn, beans, and other vegetables. Most of the natives had run away on their approach, but they found a few bolder ones still lurking about the village, and conciliated them with presents of beads and ribbons. From these they learned that the town had been very large and well peopled, but had been attacked by men like themselves, who had destroyed and driven away the inhabitants. These same strange invaders had caused the general desolation of the country, and the abandonment of the villages which they had seen on the march. Refreshing himself and his men on the provisions, which seemed abundant, the sergeant-major sent back a party of sixteen to report to De Luna. In their absence, De Luna, who had lost a large part of his provisions in the shipwreck, was greatly distressed for want of food, and anxious for the safety of the sergeant-major. He was preparing to set out in search of him, when his messengers arrived, and he at once started to join the advance with his train of a thousand men, women, and children. Guided by the sixteen soldiers, they reached the Indian town, and for a short time feasted on the food they found there. But the supplies, which had seemed so inexhaustible to the first-comers, were soon consumed by the great numbers. The suffering that ensued was most severe. They were forced to eat bitter acorns, and even the bark and leaves of the young trees. A party was sent out again to find if they could discover any relief, or see anything of the rich town of Coça, of which the Indians told them. These were forced on their march to eat their pack-mules, and then the leather of their straps, and their gun-covers. Their lives were preserved by their entrance into a wood of chestnut and walnut trees, where they surfeited themselves on the abundant fruit. De Luna awaited their return, till the sight of his people dying of hunger made him resolve to return to the port of Santa Maria. He reached there after much suffering, and was soon followed by the exploring party, who brought back still more unfavorable reports of the sterility and poverty of the country. They had found none of the 1561.] SPANISH FAILURES IN NORTH AMERICA. 173 noble cities, rich in gold and silver, with people clothed in garments of silk and cloth of the Indies, of which they had heard reports. Instead, they saw only desolate lands, and villages deserted even by the savage inhabitants, who had learned to flee on the approach of the white man. End of De terprise. At the port De Luna procured two small vessels, either built from the remains of the wreck, or else preserved from the storm which had destroyed the larger ships. These he sent back Luna's ento the viceroy, with appeal for succor. Relief came in the shape of two ships, well provisioned, prepared to take away the unhappy colony, now distracted with misery, discontent, and anarchy. Tristan de Luna at first refused to abandon his enterprise, and insisted on being left behind with a few followers. But he was recalled by the Viceroy, and at last returned to Mexico in 1561, about two years from the time of his first setting out. Thus ended the most care. fully prepared and most promising attempt ever made to colonize Florida by the Spaniards. Fortunately for the progress of the human race, and the future history of North America, all their efforts to gain a permanent foothold north of the Gulf of Mexico, were in the main unsuccessful. BRETON FISHERMEN ON NEWFOUNDLAND BANKS. - GIOVANNI DA VERRAZANO FIRST ENTERS NEW YORK HARBOR. JACQUES CARTIER SENT ON AN AMERICAN EXPEDITION. EXPLORATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER. - CARTIER'S VISIT TO THE INDIAN TOWN OF HOCHELAGA. VOYAGE OF FRANCIS DE LA ROQUE, LORD OF ROBERVAL. -THE HUGUENOTS SEEK AN ASYLUM IN AMERICA. - THE COLONY OF ADMIRAL COLIGNY.-JOHN RIBAULT GOES TO FLORIDA. SETTING UP THE ARMS OF FRANCE. - LAUDONNIERE COMMANDS A SECOND ENTERPRISE. BUILDING OF FORT CAROLINE. - PROGRESS OF THE COLONY. 1 As early as 1504, the hardy fishermen of various nations had followed the Cabots and Cortereals across the Atlantic, and were tossing all the summer through in their little vessels on the Grand Banks, and along the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. It was only to sail a few degrees more to the westward than their fathers had done, for it is certain that the mariners of England, of Brittany, Normandy, and the Bay of Biscay had approached, if they had not seen, the Western continent, long before its discovery by either Columbus or Cabot. It is not at all unlikely that they may have explored in the sixteenth century, harbors, rivers, and islands along the shores of New England, whose discovery has been the subject of controversy on behalf of this or that early navigator of distinction, for nearly three hundred years. But of what they did there is no record; content with finding good fishing ground, any other knowledge they may |